Eddie Jamaal Griffin (May 30, 1982 – August 17, 2007) was an American professional

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player from

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. He last played for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, who waived him on March 13, 2007. Months later, he was killed in a car crash.

College career

After a standout career at Roman Catholic High School of

in which he was named ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of ...

's'' National Player of the Year, he competed in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

and led Roman to the

Philadelphia Catholic League The Philadelphia Catholic League is a high school sports league composed (as of the 2012-13 year) of 18 Catholic High Schools in Philadelphia and the surrounding Pennsylvania suburbs. The league itself was founded in the summer of 1920 on the steps ...

Championship in his junior and senior years. However, in a harbinger of things to come, Griffin was forced to finish his senior year via correspondence courses after getting in a fight with a teammate. As a freshman, Griffin averaged 17.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks for

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan u ...

and was at one point thought to be a potential top pick in the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, ...

. He was named the nation's Freshman of the Year by ''

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''. In January 2001, Griffin got in a fight with teammate Ty Shine. Griffin left the school in somewhat acrimonious circumstances after his freshman year, and made himself available for the NBA Draft. Shortly before the draft, Griffin's half-brother Marvin Powell died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

NBA career

Despite Griffin's freshman year at Seton Hall, the lingering question about his attitude saw him slip to the seventh overall pick of the

, where he was selected by the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, who immediately traded the rights to him over to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

in exchange for those to

Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...

Brandon Armstrong Brandon Simone Armstrong (born June 16, 1980) is an American retired professional basketball player. Born in San Francisco, California, he played college basketball for the Pepperdine Waves and was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 23rd ove ...

, and

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on ESPN. He played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. Jefferson was drafted in the first round of the 20 ...

(all of whom selected likewise in the 2001 draft). In his rookie year, Griffin played in 73 games (starting 24) while averaging 8.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.84 blocks per game (ranking 13th in the NBA in that category). He followed this in 2002-03 with per-game averages of 8.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.44 blocks. Off the court, Griffin suffered from alcoholism, and his troubles piled up quickly over the ensuing year. In December 2003, the Rockets released him after he missed practices and engaged in a team fight. Griffin signed with the Nets in January 2004, only to miss the entire 2003–04 season, when he entered an alcohol rehabilitation center. Prior to the 2004–05 season, the Timberwolves signed Griffin to a one-year contract, for which season he posted roughly the same numbers as he had done for his previous two. The Timberwolves re-signed Griffin for three years (player option in the third), starting with the 2005–06 season. Griffin had a significant drop-off in scoring and rebounding, albeit while suffering only a slight decrease in minutes and while averaging a career-high in blocks per game (2.11). On March 30, 2006, Griffin was involved in a car crash. Filling in the ignominious circumstances preceding the collision, witnesses and friends stated that he was watching a "pornographic movie on a DVD in his vehicle, and was masturbating.". After the accident, he proceeded to enter a nearby convenience store, where, as per the store's

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footage, he lamented his being drunk and without driver's license to the clerk; it also showed Griffin begging the man whose SUV he had struck not to call the police and promising to buy him a new car in exchange. Griffin's final NBA game was played on December 13, 2006, in a 82–95 Timberwolves loss to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. Griffin played for 48 seconds and recorded no stats except for a missed three-pointer, his only such attempt of the season. In March 2007, Griffin was released by the Timberwolves. In 303 NBA games (117 starts), Griffin averaged 7.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 22:12 of floor time per game.

Death

Griffin died as a result of a car crash on August 17, 2007, at approximately 1:30 a.m. Houston police said in a report that Griffin ignored a railroad warning and went through a barrier before striking a moving train. The resulting fire burned Griffin's SUV and the side of a railcar carrying plastic granules. Griffin's body was badly burned and there was no initial identification. Dental records later revealed the man was Griffin. He had more than three times the legal alcohol limit in his system when he crashed, according to an

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...

report. The Harris County Medical Examiner's office said the 25-year-old Griffin died of "multiple blunt force injuries." The medical examiner's office performed tests on Griffin's bile and blood from his heart and liver and determined his blood-alcohol level was 0.26; the legal limit in Texas is 0.08. Tests found no traces of cocaine, barbiturates or any other narcotics. Former Timberwolves coach

Dwane Casey Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there ...

said he had not talked to Griffin in five or six months, but he knew that Griffin was spending the summer trying to get back in shape to play in Europe the next season. He was buried in

Northwood Cemetery Northwood Cemetery is a cemetery located in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1878. Notable interments * George Bradley (1852–1931) Major League Baseball player. * Duke Esper (1 ...

in Philadelphia. At the time of his death he had a three-year-old daughter named Amaree.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

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, 77 , , 66 , , 24.5 , , .400 , , .333 , , .617 , , 6.0 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 1.4 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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, 70 , , 27 , , 19.4 , , .351 , , .195 , , .595 , , 5.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 2.1 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 0 , , 7.1 , , .259 , , .000 , , .800 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .0 , , .5 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 303 , , 117 , , 22.2 , , .377 , , .315 , , .671 , , 5.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 7.2

References

External links

Career statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Eddie 1982 births 2007 deaths African-American basketball players Alcohol-related deaths in Texas American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Houston Rockets players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves players New Jersey Nets draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Road incident deaths in Texas Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players Burials at Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia Basketball players from Philadelphia 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople